The night the bottles were outlawed

Tomer Steinhauer is convinced that "this is the game that knocked down Hapoel Holon."

Amir Katz reveals that "my neighbor set the car on fire."

The director general of the President's House reveals that "Ezer Weizmann felt that the dignity of the people was despised." To this day, the audience is not allowed to put drinking bottles in the stands.

Ahrela Weisberg

13/02/2022

Sunday, 13 February 2022, 10:02

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share on Email

• Share on general

• Comments

  Comments

Last week, Tomer Steinhauer traveled with his daughter Amit to Tel Aviv to choose a wedding dress for her wedding.

When the two took a break and drank a cup of coffee at the Lewinsky Market, history sent a farewell to the former player - to the days when Amit and her twin brothers had not yet been born.

"At the table next to us sat some Hapoel Holon fans, and they approached me, talked to me and reminded me of that game that I prefer to forget. The game that marked the fall of the constellation in Holon," says Steinhauer.

And when Steinhauer talks about falling, he does not laugh and does not exaggerate.

Holon and Bnei Herzliya will compete tonight (Sunday, 18:45) in the semi-finals of the State Cup, and past traumas will lift their heads after 27 years.

On March 23, 1995, these two teams met in the final, in a game that was much more than just another final: the winner was about to win a first title in its history.

But instead of a festival, the last minute has become one of the most despicable plays in the history of the class - and it has even a small effect on every fan who enters the pitches to this day: since that game, ushers .

More on Walla!

Pnini: "Pressure is good."

Aharoni: "Thanks to Labor, we will close the gaps"

To the full article

"I was quite ashamed that such a thing was happening live on television, in front of 10,000 viewers and the president of the country."

Adv. Amir Katz today, with the trophy from 1995 (Photo: Shlomi Gabay)

From the outset, it seems that the stars are getting along in Holon's honor, and the reference is not to the stars in the sky - but to those on the field.

Nahum Manbar, then a businessman and philanthropist who is addicted to basketball, even before he became involved in a spy affair with Iran, set up a Galacticos team in the tin hall that wanted to threaten Maccabi Tel Aviv.

He recruited the late Ralph Klein as a professional manager, and gathered stars from all corners of the league and beyond - with Steinhauer playing alongside Adi Gordon, Doron Shefa, David Thurdkill, Shelton Jones, Mike "The Crazy" Carter and Pini Levy, and from the bench A replacement coordinator named Oren Aharoni, who will stand on the lines tonight as Herzliya's coach

. At the start of the final week, in the closing round of the National League, the Herzliya defeated 91:96,

The disappointment in Sharon was great.

In the Indian club, even a victory in the final will sweeten the bitter pill called the 1994/95 season, which was appallingly mediocre on their part.

With Amir Katz, Rotem Erlich and Koren Amisha in the back line, alongside nationalized Desi Barmore and the wonderful foreign duo Paul Thompson and John Hudson, and with Effie Birnbaum on the lines - the team expected more in their third season in the league.

And how wrong they were.

The victory over Holon, 77:88, was filed in gold letters in the history books and became a record moment that has not been restored to this day.

Either way, behind the scenes warning signs were already beginning to pop up for what was to come, but no one noticed them;

In fact, they are only fully revealed now.

"Oh-oh, you remind me of forgetfulness now," says Katz, who was crowned Israeli basket king that season with 20.5 points on the evening.

"The last time Holon and Herzliya met in the cup, they burned my neighbor's car."

"In the pre-final league game, Holon fans kept cursing me. They had nothing personal against me, and they just wanted to throw me off balance. I then rented an apartment with Ehrlich, and I had a red sports car. I do not know why, maybe I had a bad feeling, But I parked her outside. One of the neighbors, who also had a red sports car, parked next to me, and one night that week they set fire to his car. Then, until the final, vehicles made patrols in our area. "

"No, it did not affect me. I only saw the basket and the ball, and all the rest were background noises that I did not hear or notice at all. The problem was different: we reached the final in poor shape, and we were quite afraid of Holon. This atmosphere was well felt, and chairman Zeev Moati decided to take action: that week he gathered us in the home hall in Herzliya and made us on the fire, to release the pressure and raise morale.

In the end it succeeded.

We arrived focused, and from the moment we got on the field I realized that we would not get off it without winning.

"Everyone was stressed because of the significance of this day. Do not forget that these are two teams that did not take any titles before, and there was also a feeling that this is an opportunity that may not come back, because Maccabi Tel Aviv's control in those years was quite absolute. "Even in retrospect, the facts proved that the pressure was in place: although we won and lifted the trophy, Herzliya has not won another title since, and Holon had to wait until 2008 before winning its first championship."

"Dear audience! If there is no order here in a few minutes, be honored to be left alone and I will go!"

The late President Weizmann with Aryeh Shomer (Photo: Government Press Office, Yaakov Saar)

In 1995 they did not hear about ticket splits, and even the final night became a double show.

At 18:30, Elitzur Holon defeated Elitzur Ramla 72:90, won the women's state cup and hoped that the city's men's team would complete a double and turn the Teardrop Square on Kugel Boulevard - the one where Beit Yisrael masses failed in tests - into Champagne Square.

At the seam between the games, a retirement ceremony was held in honor of Anat Draigur, singer Hofni Cohen sang the national anthem and Etty Polishuk's dance troupe performed on the floor.

The game was broadcast on Channel 2, and before the tip-off, the regular cheer was heard in honor of the entry of the late President Ezer Weizmann and his entourage. "This is the most important game of my career so far," Gordon admitted. Maccabi Tel Aviv has always won all the titles, and most of the players do not have a title.

I play mostly for fun, and the importance of winning is secondary. "Not everyone, it turned out at the end of the evening, connected to his text.

The nerves gave their signals on the excited teams, and also on the most experienced players in their ranks.

Herzliya started the game with 0 of 5 from the penalties (and finished it with 22 of 39), and saw Holon escape to 16:25.

The Purples also did not withstand the pressure and hit only 14 of 33 from the line, and two people brought Birnbaum back into the game: Katz, shot three from half court with the buzzer and lowered his team to the halftime break with a 39:42 advantage, and another one, Hudson.

"We've been put to sleep with Hudson all week," Steinhauer accuses.

"These are methods that were customary then. Everywhere, and on every stage, they said he was injured in the leg, and could not play at all, and he did not practice. Then he came and gave a show, of course."

Katz (maybe this is the place to mention that this is a lawyer) stuck to the original version.

"He really was injured," the guard swore.

"He had something in his ankle, and we did not believe he would play. The physiotherapist Moshe Segal worked on it day and night to train him, and in the end he went up to play."

Not for nothing: Herzliya's wonderful foreigner scored 24 points and picked up 16 rebounds.

"We only went to bed in the morning, after buying a newspaper."

Amir Katz (No. 12) and Rotem Erlich win the trophy in 1995 (Photo: Maariv, Adi Avishai)

Holon did not give up, and with 52 seconds left, it was only 82:77 behind, but the atmosphere of chaos had already spread over the entire hall.

Bottles were thrown from the stands, and the tension was also evident on the benches and on the parquet itself.

Jones committed an offense intentionally and aggressively protested before the judges, who were generally harassed by other things.

The late Asa Kaminer rushed to the secretariat and announced that "they will stop throwing bottles and the police will make an order, otherwise I will stop the game."

Seconds later, a bottle hit the referee's neck. He replied, "Stop playing and finish the game, there was less than a minute left." The winds did not really calm down. The objects continued to be thrown from the bleachers, and Manbar picked up the microphone and threatened:

If you continue with this, I'll leave Holon!

it's clear?".

For a moment, that seemed to be enough.

The game was renewed, Thompson managed to get a standing ovation and Ehrlich set the final score with two free throws, but with the buzzer - everything flared up again: Jones Kidrar, the late Mickey Herman sent him a shoulder and the Holon stranger threw the ball in his face and threw it to the floor. Herzliya recovered and joined the festivities, but even that did not help calm the spirits

. There was President Weizmann. "Shame and disgrace," he hissed down to the parquet in the face of the riots, and picked up the microphone.

If there is no order here in a few minutes, be honored to be left alone and I will go.

I ask for order! "He shouted. He responded with contemptuous whistles from the purple side of the stands, but that eliminated the incident.

One minute that lasted 16 minutes: the disgrace in the 1995 Cup final

More in the "Wickside" section:

• Alexi Sheved in an interview: "I want to lead a team to the top, and know I can"

• Dino Radja: "Mom called at 2 at night. Drazen died. It was awful"

• 70-year-old Master Sharaf: Zvika Sharaf in a special interview

• The natural solution to knee pain is closer than ever - with a refund from the health insurance fund

"I stood on the floor and was helpless. Leave the result, obviously I was upset by the loss, but everything that happened around, in front of the president, was just disgusting," Steinhauer concludes.

"If the constellation sewn in Holon had taken a title that evening, it would have changed the history of the club. What happened in that game broke everything."

Katz: "I really liked the Holon fans, after experiencing them up close as a team player (17.5 points per game in the 1991/92 season), but they behaved quite problematically at that time. Everything warmed up, and we also had the late Mickey and his brother Dov in the stands, who did not Bury their hand in the plate.

And when minus and plus meet, there will be electricity in the air.

I was not afraid, because I knew that no one would blow up the game a minute or two before the end, but I was quite ashamed that such a thing was happening live on TV, in front of 10,000 viewers and the president of the country. "

"What?" Katz laughs, that this trophy was the only title he won in his career.

"That night nothing could obscure my happiness. We went to a restaurant in Herzliya, fans came to the square. Rotem and I did not go to bed until the morning, but only after we went downstairs and bought newspapers. It was crazy."

Statistics from the historic final (Photo: Maariv, archive)

And how did things look from the state perspective of the Weizmann entourage?

"He was happy in the town, "

recalled the then president of the house, Aryeh Shomer

Ezer always liked to be involved, and it was important to him that everything be done in an orderly manner.

The president is the representative of the people, and he understood that the honor of the people is being despised here.

He also informed the union and group members - you do not want?

I'll go home, and hand out the trophy to whoever stays here.

He could not stand having quarrels over such things in sports.

There is no doubt that his threat calmed the spirits. "

" Ezer did not have to consult, he was always spontaneous.

He was the one who decided and decided, and I - at most - had to reassure him from time to time.

But not in this case.

He controlled the system. "

"His favorite in sports was generally Eyal Berkowitz, and that too was more because of his wife Rauma."

After the smoke dissipated, it became clear how historic this game was.

Holon received a radius penalty and was eliminated by Hapoel Galil Elyon in the playoff semifinals, and Manbar kept his promise and left for Hapoel Jerusalem.

Many Purple fans to this day blame Gordon (0 out of 10 from the field) for the loss, and he moved to the capital along with the sponsor and Shefa and Levy, in what in retrospect caused the bitter rivalry between the Purples and Reds to ignite.

Either way, Holonia had to wait no less than 13 more years before winning its undergraduate degree;

And Herzliya?

She replaced Birnbaum with Molly Katzourin, and never lifted another trophy.

"I do not know who will win tonight," one of the participants in tonight's song recites, "but both teams and their audiences have one important task - to get the demons back in the bottle."

• sport

• basketball

Tags

• Hapoel Holon

• Bnei Herzliya

• Ezer Weizmann